Will:  Yeah, we were really looking forward to getting back on the road – it’s been pretty much non-stop since our first UK Tour to be honest, we’ve played at loads of festivals around the UK and Europe this summer but it will be nice to bring our live show to Carlisle.

You are joined by different guest vocalists on tour, what do they bring to the show?

Saul:  We have had the pleasure of working with some brilliant vocalists on the album, and it’s great to have them come on tour with us. Each of them adds a different dynamic to the live show – Delilah adds a bit of feminine charm, Liam Bailey always brings a little mayhem and Tempa T is just Tempz. It’s nice to be able to bring different guests out at different shows; it keeps things fresh and makes each show a bit different.

Do you get a chance to make any new music when you¹re on tour or is it all a bit too crazy?

Saul:  Because we have laptops we are actually able to work and make some music while we’re on the road. When we have long drives on the tour bus this can be really useful as we find that we both get inspired on tour and get new ideas for beats etc, so it’s good that we can work on them and record them even when we’re away from our studio.

Which cities/venues do you most look forward to visiting on tour?

Will:  It’s hard to say as we get to tour in a lot of cities round the UK, but there are a few that are always special. We both lived in Manchester for quite a few years so it’s always nice to go back there. Scottish crowds know how to rock out so those gigs are pretty rowdy, and as we’re both from London, we love playing London, as lots of our friends and families tend to come to those gigs.

You worked with Tinie Tempah on your current single, Hitz, so tell us about first time you met.

Saul:  The first time I met Tinie was at our show at Koko, in Camden. We had the pleasure of having Tinie support us and we met him right before he went on stage, like ‘What’s happening man, you cool?’

Will:  It was so quick like [clicks fingers].

Tinie:  It was so quick. See this is what happens in music when you meet people for the first time, it’s never how you imagined it. I’d been big fans of these guys for a while and before you know it, I was on their tour. I walked past these guys like ‘Yeah, what gwaan, two seconds, I’ll be back in a minute’.

Saul:  There was an issue with the DJs before you and their Serato CD was missing so everyone was running around looking for some weird CD under tables.

Tinie:  Exactly. What was the other one as well? It began with a ‘b’? Was in Bournemouth. It was really awkward, I didn’t even say hello to you guys at all.

Will:  A frosty encounter!

Tinie:  Yeah, it was frosty (laughs)… But then we did a video in New York and it was all good!

Saul:  It was all Jah bless.

Will and Saul, you work with a lot of people, why did you want Tinie involved in ‘No More Idols’?

Saul:  Have you seen his shoes?

Tinie:  It’s all about the shoes!

Will:  This is why.

Tinie:  I make sure my footwear is always on point.

Will:  He’s pretty much the most stylish man ever.

Tinie:  I think the first time I met them I was wearing sparkly shoes and they were 

like ‘We love it, let’s do a tune’. Easy as that…! It was as on Twitter the next day.

How do you think Tinie compliments the album?

Will:  Well, we’re trying to represent the best of British and with Tinie on the track, it’s exactly that; he’s had a great couple of years.  We’re also just trying to show everyone that he doesn’t just write No.1 tunes, he can also write bars intensely on a track.

Tinie:  It might become a No.1 tune…!

Saul:  Let’s not jinx it!

Will:  That would be the irony of the track though – ‘Hitz’.

Tinie the whole world wants to work with you, why did you give the ok to Will and Saul to make ‘Hitz’?

Tinie:  Basically because I have a lot of love for them and I respect their music. I think they’ve done something within British music that has never been done before, which is built a brand against really alternative and eclectic music and they’ve turned it into popular music effectively, which I was really amazed by. Also, their credibility is through the roof and I felt like we shared that in common by making credible music that got into the pop charts. So I felt it was the perfect opportunity for us to be a little bit braggadocios if you like.

Saul:  A little bit (laughs).

Tinie:  A little bit arrogant (laughs), I make hits, not the public, [at the beginning] I tell the DJ what to play. I was a bit confused when they put that [sample] in, but it all made sense in the end.

Saul:  Great answer!

How did the concept for ‘Hitz’ come about?

Saul:  From the beat, we wrote a beat.

Will:  Yeah, we wrote a grimy, straight-up hip-hop, raw beat. We didn’t want to have too many frills, we didn’t want to ham it up too much, we kept it simple, raw, and just thought ‘You know what, it’s a tough beat, best rapper in the country, Tinie Tempah, let’s see if it can happen’ and it did. And we’re happy it did.

Saul:  It is an audacious sample as well.

Tinie:  I remember receiving it actually. They had said about all these amazing people eon their album – from Cee-Lo to Dizzee – so I was like ‘Cool, I don’t want to turn this into a proper song, I want it to sound almost like we went in to do a mixtape type of, vibe, track.’ So I remember I wrote the first verse and I went to their studio – it’s a proper nice studio! – so I went to their studio with the first verse to get their approval so I rapped it to them and they were like ‘Yeah, yeah, this is good’ so I wrote the second verse in front of them and it was just hard! Very braggadocios, just flaunting a little bit, which is what makes what we do.

Saul:  Which is where we’re all from really, so it was back to our roots; the raw, underground stuff.

Tinie how does a beat like that challenge and engage you as a rapper?

Tinie:  Well, first and foremost, that was probably one of the most challenging tracks ever. I remember my manager, Dumi, saying that Chase and Status wanted to work with me on the album and I was like ‘Cool, it’s going to be drum & bass, I’m probably going to have to do eight bars…’

Saul:  A quick ting.

Tinie:  …’loop it over and it’s done’. But when I heard the beat, I was like ‘Oh, I have to go proper hip-hop on this!’ Obviously, in this day and age we’re trying to get the fine balance between really credible, gritty lyrics and that pop element. That’s basically where my head has been for the past 18 months. So when I heard that beat it was the perfect opportunity to say ‘I can really rap on this and I’m a very good rapper so let me show them…’

Will & Saul:  (Laughs) Yeah!

Tinie:' Let me show them on this very braggadocios song'. And who better to do that with than Chase & Status? So much credibility. I remember when the album first came out with all the tweets and I was like ‘People better say track No.7!’ And it was ‘Track No.7. track No.7,’ and Fearne Cotton was like ‘Yeah, Hitz, I love it, it’s crazy.’

Will and Saul do you ever guide a rapper or singer in terms of lyrics?

Saul:  We have done previously, yes. But lately, we’ve been working with artists of such a caliber like Tinie or Liam [Bailey] who don’t need any assistance in writing. That’s that they’re here for; to write and perform. So we let them do what they do and thankfully they don’t tell us how to make bass noises or where to put our snares.

Tinie:  I was about to… (laughs).

Will:  You’d probably be right too!

What’s the secret of each other’s success?

Saul:  Well for Tinie, it’s professionalism – not coming to the studio and getting drunk but having peppermint tea (all laugh). It’s hard work and I think we share a very similar ethos and ethic in what we do, which is that if you work really hard and are passionate and devoted to this, you can get somewhere. Talent as well really helps; you’ve got to have that hardworking mentality, that this is everything. When you see other camps who share the same thing, you get on straight away, you’re on the same journey and I see the same kind of passion in us as I do in Tinie.

Tinie:  For me, correct me if I’m wrong guys, but I think up until now they were able to create a cult following, they were very inconspicuous. And by that I mean actually Chase and Status as the individual members; their artwork has never been them, their videos have never really had them in them and they’ve almost let the music do the talking. Now of course they want to be superstars and wear shades in videos – I thought that was my thing but it’s cool!!! – [all laugh] but they’ve always let their music do the talking and their music has spoken volumes around the world. Because they’ve never, ever compromised or done a cheesy pop song – or not that I know of. Is there anything? (laughs) – their music has always done the talking and people have really embraced that. If you didn’t know about Chase & Status you’re cool. ‘I’m going to go to a Chase & Status rave and have the time of my life and go bloody crazy and I’m going to tell you all about it the next day’. And that’s how it was for a little while and that’s the coolest thing an artist can have, every artist wishes they could have that little bit of credibility and I think that began to grow and grow until it became undeniably popular. And that’s a very desirable thing to have. If everybody could have that trajectory then everybody would be happy because everybody would have that fine balance between credibility and being popular and I think that’s the secret to their success. Also, what Saul said about working really, really hard – I’ve seen this guy in airport lounges all over the world working. I think I’m working hard, but every time I think that, these two pop up. So yeah, hard work definitely pays off…!